Joe 3:18, Zec 13:1, 14:8 | JFB | STEP | 18. mountains . . . drop . . . wine —figurative for abundance of vines, which were cultivated in terraces of earth between the rocks on the sides of the hills of Palestine ( ). hills . . . flow with milk —that is, they shall abound in flocks and herds yielding milk plentifully, through the richness of the pastures. waters —the great desideratum for fertility in the parched East ( ). fountain . . . of . . . house of . . . Lord . . . water . . . valley of Shittim —The blessings, temporal and spiritual, issuing from Jehovah's house at Jerusalem, shall extend even to Shittim, on the border between Moab and Israel, beyond Jordan ( ). "Shittim" means "acacias," which grow only in arid regions: implying that even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the blessing from Jerusalem. So describes the waters issuing from the threshold of the house as flowing into the Dead Sea, and purifying it. Also in the waters flow on one side into the Mediterranean, on the other side into the Dead Sea, near which latter Shittim was situated (compare ).

Joel 3:18

18. mountains . . . drop . . . wine—figurative for abundance of vines, which were cultivated in terraces of earth between the rocks on the sides of the hills of Palestine (Am 9:13).

hills . . . flow with milk—that is, they shall abound in flocks and herds yielding milk plentifully, through the richness of the pastures.

waters—the great desideratum for fertility in the parched East (Isa 30:25).

fountain . . . of . . . house of . . . Lord . . . water . . . valley of Shittim—The blessings, temporal and spiritual, issuing from Jehovah's house at Jerusalem, shall extend even to Shittim, on the border between Moab and Israel, beyond Jordan (Nu 25:1; 33:49; Jos 2:1; Mic 6:5). "Shittim" means "acacias," which grow only in arid regions: implying that even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the blessing from Jerusalem. So Eze 47:1-12 describes the waters issuing from the threshold of the house as flowing into the Dead Sea, and purifying it. Also in Zec 14:8 the waters flow on one side into the Mediterranean, on the other side into the Dead Sea, near which latter Shittim was situated (compare Ps 46:4; Re 22:1).

Zechariah 13:1

1. Connected with the close of the twelfth chapter. The mourning penitents are here comforted.

fountain opened—It has been long opened, but then first it shall be so "to the house of David," &c. (representing all Israel) after their long and weary wanderings. Like Hagar in the wilderness they remain ignorant of the refreshment near them, until God "opens their eyes" (Ge 21:19) [MOORE]. It is not the fountain, but their eyes that need to be opened. It shall be a "fountain" ever flowing; not a laver needing constantly to be replenished with water, such as stood between the tabernacle and altar (Ex 30:18).

for sin . . . uncleanness—that is, judicial guilt and moral impurity. Thus justification and sanctification are implied in this verse as both flowing from the blood of Christ, not from ceremonial sacrifices (1Co 1:30; Heb 9:13, 14; 1Jo 1:7; compare Eze 36:25). Sin in Hebrew is literally a missing the mark or way.

Zechariah 14:8

8. living waters— (Eze 47:1; Joe 3:18).

former sea—that is, the front, or east, which Orientalists face in taking the points of the compass; the Dead Sea.

hinder sea—the west or Mediterranean.

summer . . . winter—neither dried up by heat, nor frozen by cold; ever flowing.